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The Dad Trade is for New Dads, Dads with young kids, Dads with teenagers, Dads with grown up kids. All Dads qualify.A community of Dads exchanging real life stories relevant to a Dad’s connection to their kids, no matter how young or old. It’s about the everyday stories that impact us all, the thoughts, the questions, the angst, and the laughs that come along in good times and bad.

The Dad Trade is a daily blog with stories, reviews and parenting information. The articles that appear in each edition are original works written by Dads. All Dads qualify.

Monday, November 29, 2010

"Who's next to give thanks?" Someone asks as the silver flatware clang against white china plates and wine glasses chime in sequence with the water glasses. Its Thanksgiving dinner and while we all celebrate the festival of eating, we go around the table to give each person a chance to give thanks for various reasons. We usually spend Thanksgiving in Florida with my wife's family, as they live farther away than my family, and it's also a good time to break away from school and work. For my son, he looks forward once again spending quality vacation time with his cousin.

From the first morning of vacation the activity schedule is laid out. Tennis lessons at 9:30am, swimming or Wii playing until lunch, and golf in the afternoon. Free time until dinner, then general goofing around until bed. Next morning it starts all over again, and the boys enjoy every bit of it because they get to spend the time together. My wife's parents live in a community with a tennis center, a clubhouse and a golf course, and it becomes the boy's camp grounds. They know every inch of the community, all the clubhouse staff and instructors, and all the restaurant staff wait on them hand and foot. Now that the boys are a older, schoolwork does infringe on their vacation time, but they work on it together which makes it fun. In the past, evenings after dinner were filled with dance shows and songs, nowadays powerpoint reports and presentations are becoming more of the norm, a sign the boys are growing up, though they still look forward to "feets". "Feets" is the bedtime routine in which their grandmother kisses their feet goodnight. To this day I do not know who enjoys "feets" more, their grandmother or the kids, maybe its equally soothing.

As we go around the table, people are thankful for their health, for loved ones present, or unable to attend, and other grateful blessings. Its now my son's turn to announce his thankful moments. After thanking sports, playing sports and all other things sporty, he thanks his family and lastly his cousin, for being his brother.